Cypress: The Wood Eternal

Title

Cypress: The Wood Eternal

Published Date

published 1941

Transcript

By the 1890's pullboats were succeeded by railroads and
overhead skidding. Large producers built logging roads into the swamps
over roadbeds of earth hauled from other parts. Sawdust and chips from
the sawmills were also used. Steam skidders moved over the tracks,
dragging the logs from the swamps and loading them onto the cars.

In overhead skidding, the logs are brought out on a carriage,
sometimes called a "bicycle," mounted on a powerful cable suspended
between "head" and "tail" trees. In some cases, light skidding engines
known as "snakers" are mounted on runners and moved through the flat-
woods to the edge of the swamp to pull the logs out on high ground.

In building, cypress is preferred for those parts exposed to the
weather or where a high degree of resistance to decay is required. It also
makes very attractive material for interior woodwork or finishing. Low
grades are used in the manufacture of boxes and crates and there is a
limited demand for the smaller "stuff" for poles: Cypress shingles are
used extensively and cypress is still a favorite material for coffins and
caskets as in the days of ancient Egypt. The wood is especially valuable
for tanks, silos, and containers.

In the manufacture of tanks, vats, casks, kegs, and the like, there
seems to be no wood superior to cypress. The wood does not add color,
taste, nor odor to the liquids with which it comes in contact and because
of this feature it is widely used for all kinds of food containers. The same
property makes it a preferred material in many chemical plants.

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